The present invention relates to an extruded leg which integrally includes a lift cylinder and at least one slotted track for adjustably receiving one or more struts to provide a system for manufacturing height adjustable objects, such as tables in selectable configurations.
Telescopic table legs are commonly used in work places for adjusting work surface heights for a variety of uses, such as positioning the work surface for standing or various sitting positions. Electrically driven linear actuators are frequently employed to control the height of tables having telescopic legs. A few such proposals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,553,550, 6,352,037, 6,360,675, 6,435,048, 6,494,005, and published application U.S. Ser. No. 09/870,091 (Publication No. 2002/0074477 A1). These systems each employ dedicated leg designs which allow use of an actuator for raising the table of a given configuration between different height adjusted levels. Likewise, pending U.S. patent application entitled ADJUSTABLE TABLE ASSEMBLY, Ser. No. 10/218,650, filed Aug. 14, 2002, discloses a table with adjustable height but one which has a specific configuration.
There are several extruded aluminum strut systems which allow different table configurations to be fabricated from universal extruded members, such as provided by Bosch Automation, Parker Hannifin Corporation, and others. Such tables, which can be configured in a variety of shapes and sizes, once constructed, are not adjustable without reassembly. In the past, in order to vertically adjust such tables, lift cylinders have been secured to the legs of the tables by drilling holes through the legs and extending fasteners through the legs and into threaded apertures in the lift cylinder housing for mounting the cylinders on the side of the legs. Although such construction provides adjustable table heights for a table configuration utilizing the extruded members, the mounting of such lift cylinders is somewhat difficult, requiring drilling of holes through the table legs. Once mounted, the lift cylinder cannot be vertically adjusted.
There exists a need, therefore, for an improved system which allows the telescopic height adjustment of tables and construction of tables with different configurations, including different sizes, dimensions, and shapes and which provides a greater adjustment flexibility.